1. Yemen's President Saleh has signed a negotiated deal that has him stepping down within 30 days. But top Yemen expert Jane Novak points to this as a ruse and little more than a window of time for Saleh to transfer wealth out and nothing & no one to transfer power to. As bad as Yemen is, outlook is bleaker. No mid-term upsides.

2. In Syria, protest remains a deadly endeavor with regime security forces firing on mourners at protester funerals and into crowds from rooftops in one coastal town. Bashar Assad ended the 50-year state of emergency measures as a feigned gesture, but the killing continues.

3. While US and Iraqi political leaders ponder an extension of US force deployments there beyond stated deadlines, protests against it get heavy media attention. Muqtada al-Sadr, a "guest" of Iran's regime for many months, naturally lead protests in Baghdad. All of this while the violence ratchets higher as the withdrawal date nears.

4. Libya's foreign minister is reportedly making his way to Ethiopia to meet with other leaders on a negotiated settlement for Qaddafi. With the NATO adventure looking less palatable by the day, the American administration has vested political interest in driving a negotiated settlement home and ending military commitment.

February 2, 2010[Listen Here]
What on Earth can Usama bin Laden, the mystical calculus of climate change and US Homeland Security have in common? Does bin Laden really agree with the President of the United States on matters weather? How is it that the...